Transportation focal point of North Central meeting

Eric Bridges, left, executive director of the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, listens Wednesday morning alongside Joe DeMott, a McKean County commissioner and chairman of the NCPRPDC executive board. Photo by Joseph Bell.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Barry J. Schoch made a conference call Wednesday morning to board members at the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission [NCPRPDC] to discuss possibilities handed down from the governor's funding advisory commission.
The funding advisory commission was reportedly formed to study various transportation issues plaguing the state, including new ways to fund the many transportation needs of the commonwealth.
According to Schoch, the commission has met several times to discuss different plans for the state's Department of Transportation to generate more revenue for the aging infrastructure.
"This is a daunting task with the transportation aspect in this state," Schoch said Wednesday during an hour-long conference call. "Public safety is the No. 1 priority of the government and the issue of our roads most certainly affects public safety. We have to look at how we can modernize our approach to delivering transportation.
"The thing is, we can't do it all at once-- I'm charged with trying to find $2.5 billion of recurring revenue every year so that we don't have the same problem that we find ourselves in today [lack of revenue] 10 years from now."
Initial plans call for the commission's initiative to be on Gov. Tom Corbett's desk by the start of August.